Market Commentary February 28, 2019
The month of February has seen the pace of market gains slow, however positive numbers still exist for North American indexes. The TSX in Toronto was up 2.9% for February, now totaling 12.5% in 2 months. The S&P 500 in New York was up 2.8% for the month and 12.3% for 2019. The NASDAQ index is up 3.5% for the month and 14.8% for the calendar year.
Some of the major concerns from 2018 have finally been cleared up or are on their way to being resolved. The US government shutdown is over, the US/China trade wars seem to have found a stable level and trade talks are now ongoing.
The US economy continues to show that it is on stable footing, as employment data and GDP growth continue among other economic data to be positive and healthy. As most economists are now forecasting for positive growth to continue through 2019 into 2020 and 2021.
One of the final items hanging over the global economy is the Brexit resolution and how the Britain and the EU will agree to terms of their divorce. Britain continues to ask for better terms, but the EU will not agree as they can not set a precedent for nations to leave the EU in the future.
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